15 replies to this topic

[kelly40]

Hi everyone
Just wondering if anyone has gone to either the Orillia or Barrie fertility clinics? What was your experience like? Neither have much of a web site (Orillia doesn't have one at all) so finding info has been a little difficult.

Thanking you all in advance

[mich32]

Hi everyone
Just wondering if anyone has gone to either the Orillia or Barrie fertility clinics? What was your experience like? Neither have much of a web site (Orillia doesn't have one at all) so finding info has been a little difficult.

Thanking you all in advance

I go to the fertility clinic in Barrie. I've done 4 IUI's and am just starting my first IVF cycle there. They do all of the IUI's at the clinic but they don't actually do the IVF at the Barrie clinic. What happens is that you go for all of your bloodwork and ultrasound monitoring in Barrie but when it comes time for Egg retrieval and egg transfer you go down to lifequest (an affliate) in Toronto to get those done. From what I undestand the Orillia clinic does the same thing for IVFs but I could be wrong and have never been a patient at the Orillia clinic.

Anyway, my experience at the Barrie Fertility Clinic has been good. They usually do bloodwork and ultasounds between 7-9am. I travel about 30 minutes to work and have to be at work by 8:35 am and have never been late so they are good at getting you in and out if you are at the clinic by 7 am. The staff is fairly friendly and are always willing to answer questions.

At the beginning there was a lot of testing and paper work that DH and I had to do before they would accept us as patients but once all that was done it was smooth sailing. I think the cost of the first consultation is $200 or $300 and when you start getting monitored you have to pay $200 each cycle.

Anyway, I hope that helps, feel free to ask any other questions that you have.

[kelly40]

thank you for all that great info! i'm probably going to be starting with IUI too so it's great to hear from someone who's gone down that road.

i hate that it always comes back to cost, but how much do they charge for a round of IUI?

best of luck with IVF

[alwayshope]

Hi, I have been to both clinics. I had a bad experiance at Barrie,I found the nurse VERY abrasive and I also thought they charged for everything ...way too much. I Loved the orillia clinic,they were very freindly and I could call anytime and ask anything and they would always get right back to me.
Good luck .
L

[Gemgirl]

I had a horrible experience with the Barrie Clinic and ran away from that clinic screaming. My husband and I started with New Life in Woodbridge but recently have moved to the barrie area and figured it would be easier to go to a clinic closer to our new home. So I went to the "consultation" appointment which I was told was going take 1.5hrs. It lasted 15min and I learn more from surfing the web then I did from the nurse and was charged $150 for the appointment. I was told several times that to show up to their office between 7-8 for blood work and ultrasound. So my day 3 shows up and I go to their office with a full bladder have my blood drawn and then was lead over to the window and told where to go for my ultrasound. Which was down three flights of stairs up half a block across the street through a construction zone into the hospital down the hallway turn right up a flight of stair through the cafeteria and into the imaging department. But I was assured by the nurse co-ordinator that her ladies don't wait. Get check in have to go to this room that has two cubicles at the back of it to change and then have to wait in this room for my name to be called with four women ahead of me. When its finally my turn lead into a room with four other beds with only curtains around the hospital beds. The technician begins my scan and comments that 'òh your really full'. I wonder why maybe because I was under the impression that I would be receiving my ultrasound at their office over an hour previous. Then comes the internal part of the scan. Again I'm just in an ordinary hospital bed with my feet facing the curtains and the technician hands me the probe and tells me to insert it. I am also told by the technician that next time I come I will have to right down the numbers for the size of my follicles my self. Excuse me but what the hell am I supposedly paying BFC $200 dollars per month to monitor my cycle if I'm doing half the work. At New Life they have separate rooms with proper exam tables with stirps you lie back and the tech does her job. After the scan is done I am humiliate and feel violated. I go back to the BFC's office and demand my money back which I was refuse. So I keep my appointment with the consulting doc of BFC which was a Dr. Browning. He didn't even give me a chance to speak. He had hear the nurses side of the story and was not worried about what I might possible be thinking of doing. Because they are not just some small clinic north of Toronto but a Canada wide affiliated centre. Well so is New Life and there is no comparison in my opinion. Oh yeah I am their first complaint in 12 yrs. Which I find hard to believe more like people just got pissed off with their arrogant attitude and left for another clinic. Dr. Browning said I sought them out which is true but based on their false advertising. They totally mislead me as to their capabilities there. Had at anytime they had said that they did not do the ultrasound in house I would have walked away right then and there. I went to them thinking it would save me time and I would have to miss less work. The first ultrasound appt. made me over an hr late for work. I told Dr. Browning all I wanted was my $150 back and I would forget that I ever met them. Well he would have to discuss this with his partners because services had been rendered. I say screw them they can keep their $150 now I am filing a formal complaints with the College of Physicians and Surgeons. If you are going to charge people for services they you have to hear them out if they have a complaint. Every good business person knows this. Listen to your customers reviews good and bad because it might be time to change how you deliver services. But I guess Dr. Browning is too busy playing god he now thinks he is a god. What if I had stayed and become a patient of Dr. Browing and disagree with a treatment he recommended. Would I be heard about any concerns I might have or belittled for disagreeing with him. I feel sorry for anyone who becomes a patient of this clinic.

[Luckypenny]

Wow Gemgirl, that is awful! Hate to say it but it makes me feel better about my decision to forgo my appointment with the Barrie Fertility Clinic and go elsewhere.

[marin]

I did have to pay a $150 consult fee at my first clinic, but everything was done in house. When I did cycle monitoring with and without drugs I only ever paid for meds and the sperm washing. At MFC, I didn't even pay a consult fee.

Gemgirl - I'm so sorry you had to experience something like that. Dealing with IF is hard enough on its own.

[momtosam]

My experience with Barrie was equally AWFUL. I used it as a satellite monitoring clinic for my 1st IVF cycle and 2 FETs that followed. OHSS was dismissed by the nurse at the clinic despite all of the indicators for it being present - I called the LQ main clinic and the nurses there were immediately concerned and ordered an u/s. My pregnancy test results were "forgotten" on a Friday afternoon - and when I finally got through to someone (the main nurse, who I can't stand and is rude beyond belief) - she said it was my fault. AND I had to wait another 24 hours before I got my results....b/c she was at a Christmas party. I found the main nurse rude and what was worse is that she never actually picked up a phone and rarely, if ever, phoned you back when you had a question or concern. Multiple things fell through the cracks.

I believe that she is particularly "forgetful" with IVF patients as most IUI patients I spoke to whiel I was there liked her. Most IVF patients could not stand her.

I remained with LQ but drove to their Thornhill clinic for monitoring and it was worth the time and the traffic to know that I was being monitored professionally and correctly.

And yes, Barrie nickel and dimes you for everything and my cycles through Thornhill even with travel were cheaper than with Barrie. Oh and the way they took blood from a patient (at least the way they did when I went) is actually illegal - you cannot draw blood from someone's arm with a syringe and then inject it into a container......I have scar tissue damage from their method of drawing blood.

[Angel3020]

WOW! I'm so glad that I didn't go to Barrie clinic. They returned my first call ten days after! That was a red flag for me. I went to Nahal clinic in Richmond Hill and I'm in my 2WW.

[reallylongtime]

ok i attend the barrie clinic and i wouldn't recommend that clinic to anyone. i am in the middle of my ivf cycle and i have to continue at barrie for a few more days and after that i would never go back or recommend that clinic to anyone. i received a call from lifequest today asking me how come i didn't go for bloodwork and ultrasound today. i told them that barrie told me to come on sunday not today. they better hope this doesn't not mess up my cycle. i talked with the nurses from lifequest and they told me to continue with what i was doing and come in on sunday. i will now be calling lifequest to make sure of what i am to do. DO NOT GO TO BARRIE GO TO ANOTHER CLINIC THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. also i called barrie on their cell phone number and they never called me back.

[Northern Ontarian]

I know the last post here was a few years ago. But I just wanted to thank you all for your information.
It helped my husband and I choose to go to the Orillia Clinic, and everything I`ve read on these forums is true, they are wonderful!!!
The personal care is great, they know you by name, they seem to really care about you as a person, not just a patient!
It`s a very small clinic, but that`s exactly what we wanted as we`re from a small town!
So thanks to you all

[alwayshope]

Good luck jlsnb..I will have my fingers crossed for you.
I really liked them at orrilia...I have to go all the way to mt sinai, I wish the oriilia clinic could do the ivf procedure as well.

[Mayabean]

Just got an appt with BFC! But I have to see the gynaecologist first in his office. I am quite worried about going here because of all the negative comments. I ave not read anything nice about this clinic or nurse Ann.
Orillia fertility clinic is closer to home.

Not sure what to do or expect at my first appt. I am hoping to try Clomid and get the script from the Dr.

[Northern Ontarian]

Mayabean,
Unfortunately I haven't heard any positive feedback from Barrie. I absolutely looooove Orillia!
Good luck.

[babybliss]

I would definitely say AVOID the barrie fertility clinic! They are out to make money and do not have your best interest at heart, the nurse coordinator is unprofessional uneducated and disorganized! They lost my bloodwork, didn't fax it or call to confirm it was received, didn't call me with instructions either. I wasted 8 months and a lot of $$$$ at this clinic. They make you buy medications you don't need yet just to make money! My cycles kept getting cancelled without even getting to try and they never looked I to WHY the medications weren't working. The nurse was so rude and did not offer any other treatment options as their radio add suggests!!!! They kept telling me to take the same medication over and over without any success. I got copies of my chart and switched to mount Sinai dr greenblatt finally diagnosed me with PCOS and I have endo within 2 months we were pregnant and I have my little girl! Do not waste time and energy on this rif raf clinic they do not know what they are doing and certainly don't investigate. Move on. I did satellite ultrasounds in orillia they were also absolutely caring and compassionate. I have these kind caring teams to thank for my baby girl. She is here against all the odds!